Politics

ZAGREB, February 17, 2020 - The recently founded Croatian Association for Hydrogen Energy is organising Hydrogen Week, which will take place as part of an informal meeting of the EU environment and energy council from 26 to 28 April in Split and on 30 April 2020 in Zagreb, the Croatian Association for Hydrogen Energy has reported. The Croatian Association for Hydrogen Energy is a member of Hydrogen Europe, which makes it Croatia's official representative in that leading European association for hydrogen. One of the first projects of the Croatian Association is Hydrogen Week, which is being organised under the auspices…

ZAGREB, February 17, 2020 - The Ministry of Defence on Monday signed procurement agreements with 38 Croatian companies for military equipment and services valued at about €61 million or about €19 million more than in 2019. The agreements were signed by Minister Damir Krstičević who underscored that Croatian soldiers are entirely equipped with Croatian products and weapons and their participation in international missions and operations serve as an excellent reference in tenders that Croatia applies for on the global markets. "These agreements represent a significant contribution to Croatia's economy and show that MORH is not just a consumer but also…

February 17, 2020 - The Permanent Representation of Croatia to the European Union has increased the number of staff during the Croatian presidency; one fact regarding space exploration still managed to make the news in Croatia today. Gordan Duhaček writes for index.hr about four people out of the 150 listed on the Representation website are dedicated to the Exploration and Space. While the English version of the website doesn't offer that piece of information, on the Croatian site you can find the four diplomats listed under the section "Istraživanje i svemir". Index.hr asked the Representation about the number of the…

ZAGREB, February 17, 2020 - The SABA RH antifascist alliance in Croatia will organise an international conference on fascism and anti-fascism in the present-day Europe in Zagreb on 20 and 21 February. Presenting the goals of the conference, the association's leader Franjo Habulin said at a news conference in Zagreb that the event would be part of the efforts to counter the strengthening of extreme right wing politics and more and more aggressive attacks on the values of the anti-fascist struggle, which, he said, were the biggest values of the present-day Europe. Habulin said that the victory against the fascist…

ZAGREB, February 17, 2020 - The situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is critical due to the problem of illegal migrant crisis and it will certainly be even worse as there is still no coordination in taking the necessary measures nor any indication that the new Council of Ministers might take more resolute action, an Una-Sava Canton official says. "There is no coordination whatsoever between the state and lower level government. Although the Council of Ministers was formed two months ago, there is still no serious response regarding the protection of Una-Sana Canton when it comes to illegal migration," the canton's…

As Novac/Danko Sucevic writes on the 17th of February, 2020, it's easy to dislike when Croatian taxpayer money is spent on buying ancient planes, for self-important government figures to tour other countries, paying off redundancies in government and public services, and local government units. Each of these topics is something we can and should discuss, but the topic of helping out Croatian tobacco manufacturers is rarely a subject we tackle, at least in public. Let's look at the enfeebled Agroduhan's story. On Friday, it came to light that the Ministry of Finance was submitting a proposal for a regulation to…

ZAGREB, February 17, 2020 - Raising the topic of enlargement to Southeast European countries to the highest level in the EU and changing the atmosphere about it will a big, positive political legacy of the Croatian presidency of the Council of the EU, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in Brussels on Sunday. As premier of the country presiding the Council, he attended an informal working dinner of European Council President Charles Michel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell with the leaders of Croatia's six Southeast European…

ZAGREB, February 17, 2020 - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Sunday described European Council President Charles Michel's draft EU 2021-27 budget as an attempt at a compromise that still needed a lot of work, saying he was pleased the draft took into consideration Croatia's most important demands. "I think Michel tried to find a compromise, but there will still be many difficult and demanding negotiations this week," he said in Brussels. On Friday, Michel proposed a €1,094 billion budget for the EU in the 2021-27 period, which is 1.074% of the 27 member states' gross national income. The European…

ZAGREB, February 16, 2020 - Europe should reach a new consensus on how to protect its citizens and that consensus should be based on the rule of law, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said on Sunday. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference 2020, Plenković said that due to differences between member-states, citizens' expectation to feel safe had not been entirely met. Plenković, whose country is chairing the EU, said that the new consensus should be based on European values, primarily the rule of law. The rule of law is the main foundation of our values, he stressed. Democracy, fundamental freedoms…

ZAGREB, February 16, 2020 - The Permanent Representation of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union started posting on its website information on meetings of the permanent representative and her deputy with representatives of interest groups with the aim of ensuring transparency. A list of all meetings held by Permanent Representative Irena Andrassy and her deputy Goran Štefanić from 28 October 2019 to 6 February this year was posted on Wednesday on the website of the Permanent Representation. This practice will continue and all meetings of the Permanent Representative and her deputy with lobbyists who signed up to the…